Cup container



NOV. 20, 1962 B, A, sKlRQw 3,064,872

CUP CONTAINER Filed OCT.. 17, 1960 W @W Efmfm al@ @ci/P.

United States Patent 3,il64,872 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 tice 7 Claims. (Cl. 229-15) This invention relates to a container or carrier for cups formed of fragile material such as china, glass, vor pottery.

According to prior art practices, valuable cups have been hung by their handles Ifrom hooks in a cabinet o'r have been arranged in stacks of two on the shelves of such a cabinet, or have been carefully packed in a box with each cup filled with a loose protective material such as paper which spaced each cup from every other cup.

Such prior art practices have been unsatisfactory from a viewpoint of breakage and convenience.V For example cups suspended onrhooks can be easily dislodged so that the cups fall, breaking themselves and possiblyother valuable pieces in the cabinet. Cups arranged in stacks of two are less apt to fall but must be very carefully stacked to avoid chipping and are not protected from contact with pieces being inserted into the cabinetrand removed therefrom. Moreover, the packing of cups and loose protective material within a container is excessively time consuming, as is the unpacking of such cups for use.

Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to devise a container or carrier within which a plurality of cups may be quickly and conveniently packed with a minimum possibility of breakage or chipping and which completely protects the cups from damage by contact With each other and with other objects.

A more specific object of the invention is to devise a container or carrier which can be quickly opened and closed and which contains a plurality of compartments defined by a soft, flexible material geometrically arranged within the container.

Another object of the invention is to accommodate adjustment of the flexible material to facilitate safe storage of less cups than the maximum number of compartments in the container.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a substantially cylindrical liner which may be affixed to or loose Within a complementary container, and to provide strips of soft, flexible material of greater length than the diameter of the liner and attached thereto at the ends of such strips in such an arrangement as to provide cornpartments of equal size which can be adjusted in size by a loop extending around all of the strips between their ends.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following speciiication and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a closed container or carrier embodying a preferred form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the container with its lid in open position;

4FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the container;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a somewhat schematic plan view of the liner and the divider strips attached thereto; and

-FIGURE 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of FIG- URE 2.

Describing the invention in detail the novel cup carrier comprises a generally cylindrical box or container 2 which may be formed of fabric, plastic, leather or any other suitable material preferably exible and resistant to wear and soil by handling. The material of which the d box is formed is attached as by stitching (not shown) to a segment 4 (FIGURE 2) of such material which is also attached to a round lid A6. The segment 4 functions as. a hinge so that the lid may. close the top of thevcontamer 2 as shown in FIGURE l or may be hinged `to open position as shown in FIGURE 2.

' The top edge of the container 2 and the perimeter of the lid 6 are formed with mateable teeth 8 and 10, respectively, of a conventional slide vfastener comprising a slide 12.

A liner 14 is disposed within the container 2 and is generally cylindrical in form but is preferably open at the top and bottom. v

A pair of spacer strips 16 and 18 (FIGURE 5) are attached at their ends to the liner 14. The strips are of approximately the same `width from top to'bottom as the liner- 1*'4 and are slightly longer than the diameter of the liner 14. Another pair of'such spacer ystrips 20 and 22 are attached at their ends to the liner 14 and are longer than its diameter. A third pair ofsuch spacer strips 24 and 26 are attached at their ends to the liner 14 and are longer than its diameter.

The ends of each strip 20 and 22 are closer to each other than the ends of the strip 16 or the ends of the strip 18. Also the ends rof each strip 24 and 26 are closer to each other than the ends of the strip 20 or'the ends of the strip 22. Thus, as best seen in FIGURE 5, each end of each strip is attached to the liner approximately equidistantly spaced from corresponding ends of two other adjacent strips to afford a generally symmetrical pattern as shown in FIGURE 5, which pattern can however be altered as hereinafter described to accommodate varying numbers of cups 28 which are stored between the strips as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

The liner 14 and the strips may be formed of fabric, leather, plastic, or any other suitable material which is exible and durable in service. FIGURE 6 shows the manner in which each end of each strip is attached as by stitching 30 to the liner 14, one end of strip 26' being shown by way of example.

A loop 32 encircles all of the strips approximately centrally thereof to define a plurality of pockets or compartments 34 Within the container 2. The loop 32 is preferably formed of the Same material as the liner 14 and the strips and may be a single segment of such material having its ends stitched together as at 34 (IFIG- URE 4).

The loop 32 permits relative movement between the strips so that the cups 28 are always snugly confined whether or not all of the pockets 34 are lled. If any pocket is not lled it partially collapses to hold the remaining cups snugly. Each strip is of suicient length to be received within and fill one cup.

Thus it will be understood that the novel carrier is characterized by a container which can be quickly opened and closed and which contains a soft, flexible liner to which soft flexible, divider strips are interconnected in such manner as to provide compartments of equal size which can be adjusted in size by the loop 32. Thus the cups may be quickly and sa-fely inserted in the respective compartments, the strips being of greater length than the diameter of the liner so that a segment of each strip can Ibe received within a cup to limit and cushion movement thereof. In the event that there are less cups than compartments, the loop can be adjusted so that the stored cups are snugly conned in their respective compartments.

While the present invention has been explained and described with reference to specific embodiments of structure, it will be understood, nevertheless, that numerous modifications and variations are susceptible of being incorporated without departure Ifrom the essential spirit 3 o'r vscopeY thereof. Accordingly, it is not intended for an understanding of this invention to be limited by the foregoing description nor by the illustrations in the annexed drawings, except as indicated inthe hereinafter appended claims.

What is claimed 'as` new and .desired to be secured Vvby Letters Patent of the United States is as lfollows:

' 1.-A carrier for cupsandv'the. like comprisinga'cylinv rical container, acylindrical liner therein', a plurality of Ailexible divider strips within the linerl, each 'beinglonger than the diameter of the liner andhaving its'ends attached to the liner, and a loop loo'sely'conning all of "the strips between theirends tor define a plurality of compartments within said container, said loop being slidably 'movable to permit relativev movement between the divider 'strips to adjustthe size of the compartments.

2.,A carrier according to claim 1' wherein each end .of each rstrip isv spaced sbstantially equidistantly from jadjacent ends of otherstrips'at opposite sides thereof.

3. A Carrier according to claim 1 `lwheren the strips are `arranged in pairs, the ends of each strip -of one pair AVbeing'closer toV each other than the ends of each other strip; and theV ends ofV each strip of another pair' being ,y 'closei to each other than rthe ends' of veach "strip other `thanthose of thejrst-mentioned pair.

4. A carrier forcups-tand the like comprising a container, a liner therein, exiblendivider strips having their 5. A carrier for cups and the like comprising a substantially cylindrical element, divider strips in said element having their ends attached thereto, and a slidable loop loosely coniining the strips between their ends, ea-ch of said strips being longer than the diameter of said element. i

6. A cup container comprising a substantially cylindrical liner having a plurality of non-intersecting divider strips anchored at theirY ends to the liner, the strips being of greater lcngththan the diameter ofthe liner, and means for interconnecting the strips in side-by-side relation between their ends; Y g

7, A Ucup. container comprising aliner, and a plurality, of elongated wavy non-intersecting divider strips atendsattached to the liner, and a slidable loop loosely `confiningY the strips between their ends.

tachedv at their ends to the liner, and means interconnectingthe strips in side-by-side relation Ibetween their ends.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,027,358 Schoeppl May 21, 1912 A, 2,752,973 stamp Y--- Jury 3, 19,56 2,890,223 Kirck t Jury 23, 1957 OTHER. REFERENCES V'Tweet and Turck, Metallwar'enfabrik,` 339,994 (Ger-V man), Aug. 29, 1921. 

